Blue Collar Nation

Guy La Rocque is a man of many passions. He has built an amazing roofing company in Southern California, at one time employing more than 300 people. He is a 42x Ironman triathlon and 25x marathon finisher and also an Eco Challenge finisher. Guy is a family man and also heavily involved in the local community. Guy gets the most out of his life and that is why we wanted to sit down with him and find...

Thomas Blackwell has an amazing book he just published, The Liberty of Our Language Revealed .  Eric and I read the book and our lives are changing for the better. As high achievers, we are very hard on ourselves. However, we tend to beat ourselves up a lot, too. These negative thoughts are keeping us from becoming as great as we desire to be. Thomas Blackwell's book is a great start to learn...

Eric and Larry sit down for a special Thanksgiving episode of the Blue Collar Nation podcast. The boys will review their 3 favorite books of the year, talk about goals for 2020, and talk about what blue collar business owners need to do to make positive changes in their businesses. Eric has a shiner too!  You can see that on youtube here . Sponsored by Morning Tech Meeting TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tec...

Mark Dent , journalist for The Hustle, recently interviewed Eric for an article on the future of the blue collar trades. The article focused on the scarcity of younger generations getting into the trades. We are potentially headed for a crisis in America, due to lack of skilled tradespeople, that could result in a lack of services for all of us. According to Forbes the economy in the blue collar i...

Bruce DeLoatch , IICRC instructor, entrepreneur, and all-around amazing guy joins us this week to talk about building systems in your business. So many blue collar service business owners pay lip service to building systems, but never get around to doing it. This comes at a great cost to the business, causing chaos, lost money, frustration, and often unhappy owners. Bruce, who admits that he does...

Larry is in charge of the microphone in this one. In this episode, Larry interviews Eric about his long journey to becoming a leader. The highs, the lows, and how he (finally) figured it out. This is an episode that should not be missed. The boys share a 33 year history together and their is nobody better suited to get Eric to talk than Larry. Learn about leadership. owning mistakes, becoming self...

Eric and Larry are back at it this week with a new episode of the Blue Collar Nation podcast with mortgage banker Dave Powers .  In this episode, the guys talk about how home ownership can build wealth for techs and owners, alike. Eric, Larry, and Dave talk about home ownership and the living the American dream. Topics include: renting vs. buying, how to budget to own a home, and the steps require...

The most important tool in your toolbox is your body. You cannot produce when your body is broken. Eric, Larry, and Dr. Tony sat down in Dr. Tony's office to chat about how to stay in the field producing. Topics such as diet, exercise, and injury prevention for regular Joe's to keep them feeling great and in top form. Sponsored by Morning Tech Meeting TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tech University...

This is a super special episode for Eric and Larry. Mr. Phenomenal, Howard Partridge , graced our presence to talk about how to build a great company.  Howard was Eric and Larry's coach and mentor for many years. Without Howard's guidance, they never would have achieved success in their business. We sat down with Howard and discussed leadership, company culture, making mistakes, and why...

Talking about safety sucks! However, it is our responsibility, as blue collar owners, to make sure our team is safe at work. In this episode Eric and Larry sit down with Charles Kurtek of BBSI to talk about how a good company culture can improve company culture. Sponsored by Morning Tech Meeting TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tech University Dramatically improve your team's performance with a system of...

Real wealth is often achieved by owning real estate. Many blue collar service business owners do not realize that they may be able to own their own building, instead of leasing. In this episode of the podcast, Eric and Larry sit down with Dave Neault of KW Commercial and chat about the steps and strategies service business owners can use to create long term wealth for themselves and their families...

Blue collar business owners often wear so many hats in their business that online marketing is often at the bottom of their to-do list. Now that the Yellow Pages and the newspaper  are no longer viable options, what should blue collar businesses do? Today we sit down with Derek Preece and Katie Harris of S.O.S. Digital Marketing to talk about how to navigate the new world of online marketing. Dere...

We have identified the problem, and the problem is YOU! All too often it is the owner that is the roadblock to real success in a blue collar service business. Larry and Eric were certainly guilty of that. In this episode the boys get real about their shortcomings and they encourage all of the owners to do the same. Sponsored by Morning Tech Meeting TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tech University Dramatically...

In this episode Larry and Eric sit down with former Shamrock Manager Andrew Acker. The boys talk tonight about how to grow leaders from within the company. Andy came to Eric and Larry as a self described "punk kid" and ended up a true leader within the company. Tonight they talk about how to find and develop leaders from within and the pitfalls that many companies have in trying to devel...

Eric and Darrin sit down and talk about the importance of knowing your financial numbers in a blue collar service business. Both Eric and Darrin have started out working hard and not really knowing their financial position on a daily basis which led to many issues in their businesses. Darrin has done a ton of work in the last few decades to become a master in the art and science of blue collar sma...

It's just Eric, The Tech Whisperer, today. Larry was away getting some much needed R&R, so Eric took the reigns solo and talked a little about how to be a better performer at work as the owner. In this episode, Eric talks about how difficult the rigors of being a small business owner can be and how to take of yourself better. Eric has had some stress related health issues in the past and...

Eric and Larry have a special guest today in Darrin Preece. Darrin acted as a mentor to the guys in the early days of their business and now they are all great friends. Today, the guys will talk about the 5 Factors that Limit Growth in blue collar service businesses. There are a lot of gems and reality checks in this episode. Please listen and commit to growing!  YOu can contact Darrin at RAD Cons...

Eric and Larry discuss the personal nature of connecting with a local market. In this episode, they share their tricks of the trade to better engage their community and create cheerleader clients that stayed with them for years. Sponsored by Morning Tech Meeting TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tech University Dramatically improve your team's performance with a system of short daily video lessons trainin...

Eric and Larry Share their marketing experiences with their blue collar service company Shamrock in the local community.  The best way, they found was looking people in the eye and shaking hands.  Clients were developed at the chamber of commerce's, local referral partners, BNI, and events with clients.  The relationships were maintained by giving great service and staying in touch with all t...

Giving a great production as well as great service goes a long way in the blue collar service business.  Wearing a clean uniform, communicating with the client well, putting on booties,  having confident eye contact, showing up in a clean truck, are some of the things that create an experience for the client.  They will call you back based on the experience the tech leaves them.  The will refer yo...

We all have a back ground that is interesting.  This is Eric and Larry's story and how the Morning Tech Meeting began.  We had a lot of fun, mixed in with a few tears, with our blue collar service business.  Many blue collar service businesses have a similar story.  When we went to conventions, conferences, and even at local chamber meetings we shared similar experiences with other blue colla...

We all started out with a dream business.  It turns out to be a dream for sure!  With hard work that dream can be a nightmare or a wonderful time in life.  We expect our experiences will help you have a better business you are proud of, that makes you money and has a great team.  We had a great business, Shamrock Cleaning and Restoration, that we sold in 2018.  What made the biggest impact in our...